


Welcome to Drabble Land - Dark Arts LDWS Edition

by deirdre_aithne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Death, Other, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-07
Updated: 2011-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-24 05:55:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deirdre_aithne/pseuds/deirdre_aithne
Summary: A collection of drabbles set in the Harry Potter universe, entered for the first round of the Dark Arts LDWS.





	1. Breaking a Blood-Traitor

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title:** Breaking a Blood-Traitor  
>  **Pairing(s):** Arthur/Molly  
>  **Character(s):** Lucius Malfoy, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley  
>  **Rating:** R  
>  **Word Count:** 437  
>  **Warning(s):** Extreme violence, character death  
>  **Prompt(s):** darkarts_ldws - Lucius Malfoy, Sectumsempra  
>  **Author's Notes:** This piece won mod's choice for the challenge, so that's pretty neat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

“Come now, Arthur, surely you can muster up more of a response for me.” Lucius's grey eyes glinted maliciously as he watched the other wizard weakly raise his head. The bruises across his face had turned a violent shade of purple, and one eye was nearly swollen closed.

“You'll not get the satisfaction of hearing me beg for mercy, _Malfoy,_ ” he rasped, the effort of speaking spattering blood against the blond man's robes.

“Of course not.” Straightening, Lucius glanced at the flecks of red that quickly soaked into the fabric of his black robes. “You know as well as I do that it would make little difference,” he drawled, stepping back a few paces to lean against the wall of the Weasleys' kitchen.

“Luckily for us both, I would much rather watch you break than hear you beg, Arthur.” Turning his steely eyes back to the bound man kneeling on the cool tile flooring, Lucius's lips curved up into a sneer as he gave his wand a sharp flick in the direction of the small sitting room on the other side of the wall. “ _Accio Molly._ ”

Arthur's eyes widened as his wife's body floated into the room, hovering at the level of Lucius's hip as it came to a stop. He didn't speak as he looked her over, though his body shook slightly in his anger. Molly's body had not been bound, though her face was badly bruised and cut. With her eyes closed, it was only the slow rise and fall of her chest that told him that she was still alive.

“I see I have your attention now,” Lucius sneered, using his wand to levitate her body into an upright position just a few feet away from where Arthur knelt. “ _Rennervate._ ”

A quiet groan escaped Molly's lips as her eyes cracked open, the pain of the action visible in her features as she settled her gaze on her bound husband. “Arthur-”

“ _Sectumsempra!_ ”

Molly's head snapped back sharply as an agonized scream tore from her throat, the fabric of her clothing splitting open as easily as the flesh beneath as the spell slashed across her body. Arthur watched with unseeing eyes as she bled out only a foot away from him, whimpering feebly till the end. For a moment, there was only silence in the Weasleys' home, before the witch's body was allowed to crumple to the floor. As Arthur turned his broken gaze back towards Lucius, the dark wizard barely suppressed the desire to laugh.

“That's more like it, Arthur,” he murmured, aiming his wand at the other man again. “Now then, where were we?"


	2. How to Treat Your Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title:** How to Treat Your Family  
>  **Character(s):** Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle Sr,  
>  **Rating:** R  
>  **Word Count:** 447  
>  **Warning(s):** Torture, multiple character deaths  
>  **Prompt(s):** darkarts_ldws - Tom Riddle, Imperius Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

It was like watching the venom from a snake bite take its toll.  
  
For a moment, Tom Riddle, Sr.'s body went rigid as the spell washed over him, and as quickly as it began, the effect seemed to disappear. His muscles relaxed and all traces of emotion eased from his face as his eyes glazed over slightly. Hovering not too far behind him, still concealed in the deep shadows of the room, a sixteen-year-old wizard lowered the wand in his hand.  
  
“Have a seat and  _enjoy the show_ , Tom,” he said coldly, dark eyes glinting as he watched the Muggle pull out one chair at the dining table. The sound of the conversation between two aged Muggles from the kitchen drowned out the scraping of the chair legs against the floor, their voices growing louder as they entered the room together.  
  
“ _Crucio!_ ” hissed the young man, aiming his wand at the Muggle woman first and sneering as she crumpled to the floor with an agonized scream. The smile that had been on her husband's face as they entered disappeared instantly, and the serving plate of food he had carried in fell to the floor as he dropped to his knees beside her.  
  
As quickly as he had cast the curse, Tom Riddle ended it, stepping out from the shadows to stand behind his father's chair. The older man had sat contently through the screams, his eyes trained on his mother's writhing body as her voice grew hoarse. He turned his face towards the wizard beside him, and even through the milky haze in his eyes, Tom could see the sea of anger churning in them, tempered only slightly by the hint of fear.  
  
“I've only just begun,  _Father_ ” he said softly, turning his attention back to his paternal grandparents who still knelt on the floor. The sound of his voice had drawn his grandfather's attention, and as the man looked over his shoulder at him, Tom aimed his wand at him and grinned. “Crucio!”  
  
The screaming finally stopped, nearly an hour after the torture began. Their voices had made somewhat of a haunting melody in the end, rising to a final crescendo that rang in the air as the vibrant green of the Killing Curse wrapped around their bodies. Only when the two of them had fallen back against the hardwood floor, to move no more, did Tom release his sire from the Imperius that had kept him firmly in his seat.  
  
“You should know that you brought this upon yourself,” Tom warned, aiming his wand at the other man as a sneer turned up the edges of his mouth. “I will enjoy watching you die. Slowly.” 


	3. A Reason to Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title:** A Reason to Forget  
>  **Pairing(s):** James/Lily  
>  **Character(s):** Severus Snape, Lily Evans  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Word Count:** 449  
>  **Prompt(s):** darkarts_ldws - Severus Snape, Legilimens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

Her hair flashed briefly in the moonlight streaming in through one of the castle's windows, a vibrant flash of red in the otherwise dark corridor. From his hiding place within a shadowed alcove, Severus glimpsed her passing and moved swiftly to follow. Pressing his back firmly to the cold stone walls, he followed the Gryffindor witch in silence, allowing the somewhat heavy padding of her feet, echoing in the quiet, to disguise any sound he might have made.  
  
Lily rounded one corner and then another as he followed behind her in the shadows. Between his dark robes and nearly silent steps, it would have been nearly impossible for the witch to detect him; even when she paused after he tripped himself on a vanishing stair, her green eyes never settled on him in the dark. It wasn't until a staircase in front of them took it upon itself to move that Severus made himself known to her. Withdrawing his wand from the pocket of his robes, he stepped nearer to the faint light streaming through a nearby window and softly said her name.  
  
For a moment, her back seemed to stiffen; even as she turned around, he could see the tension coiling in her muscles. A doe, on the verge of sprinting away through the underbrush when her eyes settle on a predator. Before she had the chance to say a thing, Severus had raised his wand and whispered the spell, “ _Legilimens._ ”  
  
The sensation of entering her mind was a strange one, and he could feel her desperate resistance to the invasion of her thoughts. But it was hardly those that he was after as Severus delved into the memories of Lily Evans, glimpsing snapshots of himself, her sister, and her family as he did. Each of them he dismissed with little interest, determined to search out her recent memories of Potter and yet, hoping he wouldn't find what he had feared.  
  
Fate was not on his side tonight, however; it never seemed to be. A memory of Lily's lips brushing against Potter's came upon him next, followed closely by the memory of their bodies entwined upon a common room couch, her fiery hair fanned out against the maroon cushion beneath her as her pale skin flushed with passion.  
  
Tearing himself away from both the memory and her mind, Severus fled into the shadows, tears blurring his vision as the last small hope he'd carried was ruthlessly extinguished. Distantly behind him, he heard Lily's voice calling after him indignantly, but his feet carried him stubbornly forward towards the dungeons.  
  
He'd seen all he'd needed to see; now it was time to put the Mudblood witch behind him for good. 


	4. Protecting the Bloodline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title:** Protecting the Bloodline  
>  **Pairing(s):** Lucius/Narcissa, Andromeda/Ted  
>  **Character(s):** Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, Dobby  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Word Count:** 428  
>  **Prompt(s):** darkarts_ldws - Narcissa Malfoy, Dark!Accio  
>  **Author's Notes:** This piece won the challenge, so that's pretty neat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

“What do you think you're doing here?” Narcissa pressed her older sister roughly against the stone wall of the Manor, pressing her wand dangerously against her throat and narrowing her blue eyes in anger.  
  
“Did you think I'd miss my little sister's wedding?”  
  
“You would have, if you had an ounce of sense in you, Andromeda,” Narcissa hissed, glancing quickly around to ensure that her new husband was not likely to walk in on their conversation in the deserted corridor. “Did you bring him here as well?”  
  
Andromeda laughed, undisturbed by the increased pressure of Narcissa's wand against her flesh. “I may be a foolish witch, Cissy...”  
  
“ _Don't you dare_  call me that!”  
  
“But I would not lead Ted into such a den of snakes as this,” Andromeda finished, ignoring her sister's outraged interruption. Schooling her features before her lip could curl into a snarl, Narcissa stepped back slightly.  
  
“At least your judgement hasn't been compromised entirely, then.” With a small gesture of her hand and the closest thing to a gracious expression she could manage, Narcissa gestured towards the Manor's ballroom, where the mass of wedding guests were enjoying the reception's entertainment. “You know the dangers of being here in the company of my husband and his friends, Andromeda. But if you wish to remain for the festivities, then for the sake of family, I will allow it.”  
  
Andromeda looked her sister over suspiciously for a moment before giving her a silent nod and stepping briskly around her towards the ballroom. Narcissa watched her go for a moment before waving her wand with a muttered, “ _Accio_.” With the vial tucked discreetly away within her private rooms upstairs, it took a moment to arrive in her hands.  
  
She'd hoped to save it for after her own first pregnancy; insurance that she would not take with another child and ruin her figure permanently. But this opportunity was one that would not present itself a second time, and the potion could always be made again...  
  
“Dobby!”  
  
The elf arrived with a loud crack and bowed, already attempting to cringe away from her as she held out the vial towards him. “Ensure the contents of this vial find their way into Mrs. Tonks's glass, without her knowledge.” Dobby muttered several acknowledgements of his order and nearly snatched the vial from her hands before Disapparating.  
  
“I hope your daughter was enough for you, dear sister,” she said to herself, finding the other woman's face again in the crowded ballroom. “You won't be pushing out any more half-bloods into our world, after tonight.”


	5. Searching for Assistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title:** Searching for Assistance  
>  **Character(s):** Draco Malfoy, Professor Slughorn  
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Word Count:** 358  
>  **Prompt(s):** darkarts_ldws - Draco Malfoy, Legilimency/Legilimens  
>  **Author's Notes:** This was my final piece for the round, but hey - 5 rounds was a good run!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any characters, settings, locations, etc. from Harry Potter. All borrowed aspects of the above fandom are used purely for entertainment in a fanwork, and will be returned to their proper fandom and owners scratch, dent, and injury-free.

_“Legilimens!”_  It wasn't quite what he'd expected from entering another person's mind, least of all that of a professor. Although he supposed that was to be expected, given the apparent nature of this particular wizard.  
  
Most of Slughorn's mind seemed to be a muddled labyrinth of hazy nights in front of the fire in his private rooms and a handful of fully lucid moments spent instructing in his classroom. It wasn't quite as helpful as Draco had been hoping as he rifled quickly through the memories that assaulted him upon his invasion. He'd crossed his fingers for more glimpses of the Headmaster, or some other innocuous detail that could somehow help him to succeed.  
  
'Useless,' Draco thought to himself as he shifted past another vague glimpse of nothing but half-empty bottles and clanking cubes of ice. The man's mind was about as helpful to his cause as taking Muggle Studies would have been, and he began to resign himself to the fact this route was getting him nowhere. A brief view of some other memory that it seemed Slughorn was trying to keep as far away as possible from his invading conscious piqued his curiosity. But before Draco could touch on the memory, his professor thrust him almost violently out of his mind.  
  
With more composure than he thought he was capable of maintaining this long into his 'gift' of an assignment, Draco schooled his features into an indifferent mask and focused his eyes on brewing potion in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Slughorn had straightened at his desk and begun to glance around the room, although he glossed dismissively over Draco's bent head.  
  
“All the better,” he muttered to himself as he stirred his potion gently once, then twice in the reverse direction. While he'd thought it a worthless venture a moment before, Draco's mind had quickly wrapped around the significant part that alcohol played in his Potions teacher's life. And after the disaster that had been his attack through Katie Bell, he was quite a bit more confident that this new route may bring him somewhat more success. 


End file.
